Jim Shea: Foley Cementing New Yorkers Support for CT Governor's Race?

Also locking up the super rich demographic

Tom Foley was back in the news this past week, and it had nothing to with his driving, or reports that he had become deceased, which he hadn't.

This time Foley's appearance in the news was, I guess you would call it, self inflicted.

He suddenly appeared in a 30-second TV spot that sought to link New York City's newly elected liberal mayor, Bill de Blasio, and Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

"Hey, New York City!'' Foley says in the spot,"With your new mayor [first Democrat in 20 years], I know many of you [those making more than $500,000] are thinking about leaving. Connecticut, with the same progressive policies you are about to see in your city, may not be first on your mind.''

Foley then reminds viewers of the upcoming election for governor and adds, "So enjoy one more year in your city, and then come join us in Connecticut under new leadership [me] – heading in a better direction [for people making more than $500,000].''

Exactly what Foley is trying to accomplish in the ad is a mystery.

For one thing, the spot only ran on two NYC stations. For another, as a conservative Republican multi-millionaire from Greenwich, he already has the votes of the top one percent sewed up.

Anyway, after the Foley ad hit the air waves, Republican State Sen. Toni Boucher, who many believe is interested in the party's nomination for lieutenant governor, issued a statement making essentially the same points as Foley. This, of course, burnishes her second-banana creds.

Meanwhile, as Foley and Boucher were locking up New York City, another probable GOP gubernatorial candidate, Mark Boughton, was being reelected mayor of Danbury with 71 percent of the vote.

Unfortunately, no one in New York City will care about that.

Hartford Tops in Low Turnout

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill released the final voting numbers from Election Day, which showed that statewide the turnout was 31.43 percent. Of all the cities and towns in Connecticut, Hartford took top honors for having the lowest participation. Of the 47,031 people eligible to vote in Hartford, 2,449 found their way to the polls, a whopping 5.21 percent. The highest turnout was in Bridgewater (77.39 percent), where 1,030 of the town's 1,331 voters exercised their constitutional right. Judging from the returns, The Weak concludes that Bridgewater must have some major problems given the voter interest, while in Hartford residents must be pretty happy with the way things are going.

Speaking of Hartford …

Mayor Pedro Segarra promises the city will do a better job clearing streets after snow storms this winter. The new plan involves reorganized snow plow route, more supervision, the use of GPS and earlier salting. Although the mayor didn't mention this specifically, let's hope the city will embrace the concept of clearing more than one traffic lane on multi-lane streets.

Whitey Will Never Get Out, I Think

Whitey Bulger, the notorious Boston mobster, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus five years after being convicted of crimes that included 11 murders, 31 counts of racketeering, extortion, money laundering, drug trafficking and weapons possession. OK, so I get the two life sentences, well deserved, but what's with the five years? Maybe I should have stayed in law school longer than two weeks.